Conversationalist

I’m being a devil’s advocate to show that this isn’t as bad as it seems. I’m voting for BESTFIGHTINGGAME OF ALLTIME: ONLINEEDITION!

Secondary vote goes to Skullgirls for being an excellent system.

I’d put Street Fighter III, Skullgirls and CvS2 Way ahead of MLP:FiM.

To avoid confusion on the following issues let me state these things here:

I am a huge fan of Nintendo, I masturbate to a Shigeru Miyamoto love pillow daily.

I fucking love Super Smash Bros. I probably put more hours into those games than any other “fighters”

Now that that is out of the way:

@Super Smash Bros thingies:

I don’t believe you realize how despised Super Smash Bros games are in the FGC. I will guarantee you that some players will be rooting for FiM simply because they don’t want to see Super Smash Bros in there. Melee was included a few years ago and promptly withdrawn due to complaints from the FGC.

And I can see why, a game that’s so unbalanced that requires multiple rules to become tourney-worthy? 1v1 instead of 1v1v1v1? The vast majority of maps removed? No items? Banned moves?

Hell Brawl is even worse than that because Sakaraui INTENTIONALLY made it unsuitable for tournament play because it’s not what he wanted for the game.

The creator HIMSELF is basically trying to destroy tournament play in Super Smash Brothers.

The Smash community banned metaknight. If that happened in any EVO game, it would be laughed out of the competition. The fact that mods like Project M and Brawl + exist shows how broken the game is for competitive play.

It’s not recognized as a fighting game by anyone except people who play it.

FiM has more going for it in terms of legitimacy than SSB.

Verbose wrote:

, no one worth their salt at an event like EVO is going to want to try to make a competitive strategy based on a beta version of a game.

All those games have different strategies, matchups and combo links. If you don’t get on a game early in it’s life cycle you won’t learn how the metagame changes up with each new iteration.

If you told any player worth his salt if he wanted a sneak peek at Street Fighter 5 and play the beta? He’ll jump on that in a second to gain familiarity with the game and begin developing strategies to get a leg up on the competition.

Verbose wrote:

Yeah, EVO probably won’t care. Mane6 will care if they put out a barely finished game with no competitive community so the tournament ends up being subpar with subpar participants, because, on the FGC’s biggest stage, Fighting is Magic failed. Later. Not now.

There’s also the problem of it failing and no one giving the developers another chance so easily. They have another project that they said they wanted to work on after this. Imagine how difficult it would be if your first project appeared at EVO not based on merit, but by the donations of its fandom which is also not based on the game’s merit, and then the game failed miserably either due to it being about ponies or whatever. Your porfolio’s biggest attribute is a big, steaming lump of FAIL. And there’s no way you can cover it up, because it was at EVO, of all places.

Yeah, Mane 6 care. They care enough that they are confident of the game going into Evo. You can’t speak for them because they speak for themselves

Q: What does this mean, in terms of game completion?

A: We are aware of how important EVO is for the FGC, considering we’re both part of the community, and developing a game with it as half the intended target audience. We wouldn’t be considering going forward with this (Did we mention it took us by surprise?), if we weren’t confident in what we can deliver.

They’re confident they can deliver. So I’m confident.

If they said “Don’t vote for us! the game isn’t ready! WE CAN’T WITHDRAWEVOAREFORCING US!” I would join everyone in saying “BANTHISSICKFILTH!” but they aren’t confident.

Verbose wrote:

I saw Divekick and heard it was indie and incomplete. But I’m willing to bet that there will be more than 6 characters to fight with, and I’m also willing to bet there’s more FGC hype around the game than FGC hype around FiM. A featured article helps, but it doesn’t automatically create hype among players.

This is Divekick:

It has 8 characters. All of whom control the same.

Yeah…..if this is a candidate, then so is Fighting is Magic.

@*The Six character debate*:

Feilong, Cammy, Seth, Akuma or C.Viper. I guarantee you that the winner of the Street Fighter IV tourney will be one of those characters. MAYBE Balrog has a chance simply because PR Balrog ( a famous player) has been playing him for ages and refuses to switch characters.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3? It has 48 characters. Only about 10 are used and I gurantee you that every decent team has Dr.Doom in it. No exceptions.

Conversationalist

And at face value, you know those indie games better than I do. Which one do you think will have the most trouble in garnering an interested pool of contestants for a worldwide tournament in the FGC community?

Darkstalkers 3.

No in America plays that game and even in Japan, only a few hardcore players even remember the game.

Everyone will withdraw once Hori’s Sako signs up for the game because everyone will know he’s a foregone winner.

Verbose wrote:

First off, I think we both know those three games all have hype that exceeds FiM in the FGC. Let’s not pretend that FiM has the legs of any other game on that list. It got on the list from a Facebook poll, and any fighting game that surpassed a certain threshold was made a candidate.

You know how large the brony community is. It doesn’t matter what the merits of the game are. Bronies were going to vote for it, because it’s Pony. Not on its merits (even if it has them) as a solid, tournament fighting game.

Also, check the number of comments on the Mane6 page itself. If there was a decent number of enthusiasts in the brony community, then they’d be all over their site. But they’re not. A brony enthusiast would comment all of the time on a game that’s so well-done that’s based upon MLP.

They aren’t there, burning.

OK First off, the facebook poll was not advertised on any Brony website. The only way you could have voted was if you were:

A) On Facebook

and

B) Subscribed to Evo’s page.

You had to be interested in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic AND be following the fighting game scene and it still managed to make it higher than games like Street Fighter X Tekken (a game that is cool to hate in the FGC).

They want this game to appeal to the FGC at large. Not to the FGC in the brony community. Our numbers in regards to the genre is, and has always been, irrelevant to Mane6. Practically, because fighting game enthusiasts in the community are likely few and far in between. Just look at the comments in the original EqD post. Those who were voting for it and donating knew less about fighting games than I do.

So…this almost sounds like a vote in FAVOUR of FiM being at Evo….I don’t even know

Verbose wrote:

That’s where I’m most disappointed. Production of the game is done by a few people. Whether the brony community had 2 fans of fighting games or 200,000 fans doesn’t matter. The number of fans in the community couldn’t contribute help (outside of beta testers who may not have even been from the brony community,) and they most certainly couldn’t contribute money.

Having the minimum amount of people in a fandom with skills=/= the game coming to fruition.

How is this even an argument? Do you think if a nation of 10 million people had 100 mechanical engineers that suddenly those exact 100 guys will form an automotive company?

No! It requires thousands of engineers, a dedicated push by the government in engineering training and infrastructure building, a suitable environment in terms of business and local community. Because the chance of those 100 meeting up and agreeing on such a project where they are the only possible progenitors is close to zero.

The chance that these guys are the only ones in the community interested in fighting games and just happened to meet on Ponychan out of sheer luck is infintesmal. They could have easily met on /mlp/ where they talk about the game. Or the Something Awful forums, where the Fighting Game Bronies [FGB] helped set up the the Canterlot Garden’s tourney.

Verbose wrote:

and I’m also willing to bet there’s more FGC hype around the game than FGC hype around FiM. A featured article helps, but it doesn’t automatically create hype among players.

NOTE: I’M NOTPOSTINGTHISVIDEO AS A WAY OF SAYINGTHATFIMHAS A TOURNAMENTSCENE! I WANT TO MAKESOMEOTHERPOINTS!

Look at the sponsors for that tournament… 8 Way Run is the biggest hub for competitive Soul Calibur gameplay and Jaxel, the owner of the site, is a big fan of MLP Fighting is Magic and ran the stream for the Mane 6.

But the biggest deal? Broken Tier sponsored the tournament.

Broken Tier is an apparel company made by the FGCFOR the FGC. They regularly sponsor tournaments and players IN tournaments and send teams to participate in Evo.

They wouldn’t sponsor a game they had no faith in.

All in all, this is a moot point, as I said before my list would be

Street Fighter III
Skullgirls
Capcom vs SnK 2

And THENMLP:FiM

So I’m actually in agreement with Verbose. I’d rather see something else at Evo.

Iamslow

Deactivated

I frankly do not care for Fighting Is Magic. Sorry. Also, speaking of fan-games, I put up ideas for Rainbow Dash’s Pro Skater in another topic.

Okay, I guess I decide the new topic. And that is… SWEETAPPLEMASSACREHUMANIZATIONS!

The picture takes place after “Magic Duel” ends.

See, now this I can reply to. I love me some humanizations! I wouldn’t consider any of the following super unsafe for work (you may want to be careful anyways) but I figured I’d spoiler this as I intend to…

break the image limit rules.

This is easily one of my absolute favorite things this fandom does and I check sites daily for new stuff. I tend to favor the more enticing material, but the clever ones you see here and there are just priceless

Some are just really pretty, cute, ect.

And I simply have no words for other pics I’ve found

@zodiac pones

Oh, aries pony. You so silly. (that’s mine, by the way). I like quite alot of them now that I think about it. I mean just fucking look at cancer. God that’s cute.

@Fightan is da magicks

I actually downloaded and played the pre – release build back when it was leaked because I was super curious about it for months. I’d say it could turn out to be a pretty respectable fighter but will more likely be remembered as the best fan game – either being pretty well deserved, imo.

Media Moderator

@ the Men who stare a ponies video
Eh, I don’t know. I guess it is pretty objective in term of if the fandom and the show is “good”, but I don’t know anyone I would want to personally show the video to. Basically it says the same thing most level headed people should say, that there are people who take things way too far, but they exist in any fandom. I think I used to be more of a type 2 (online wise anyways, and still have some elements of that), but I think overall, I’m more of a type 1 now.
The problem is that these generalizations are generalizations, and they lines are not hard. There are some type 1 fans that can have elements of type 2 and three 3 and technically be “positive” (or at least, not disturbing levels of excessive). Likewise, I know there are likely people who enjoy type 3 disturbing stuff, but keep that private, with type 1 appearance IRL and most of online.

Ponyologist & Plush Master

@Dive Kick
To steal an old Simpsons line, “Well, it delivers what it promises…”

@MLP at EVO
I said it on the last page too, but I’ll clarify just for fun.
I’m not at all worried about Mane6 delivering a quality game.
From everything I’ve heard, they are making a very fun, balanced game that functions as an exceptional fighter first and foremost and has been designed with tournament play in mind.
They got that Wizard guy (again, I’m not in this community) who runs EVO interested, so that shows that they have the chops to be great.
At this point, I think it just comes down to image,annoying as that is.
As they said in their own statement, the Mane6 guys don’t want to win just because their game has ponies in it and I’m pretty sure that if they do win, that will be one of the first complaints thrown at them (and it will likely not be entirely incorrect).
That just doesn’t seem like the greatest foot to start out on in a community as passionate as the FGC.

Now, I do know that they had a partial build at the last EVO that gained some solid attention so perhaps the problem I’m describing is much more minute than I think it is.
Again, I have no idea what the FGC is like internally.
If they are generally receptive, I say “Go for it!”
I guess I’m just not used to the idea of other large groups of people being all too accepting of this whole ‘pony thing’ yet, but considering all the media bronies have gotten in the past years, maybe that obstacle is less significant than it once was.
(Are bronies becoming… NORMAL?!)
Seeing as how this has been advertized on EQD now, we are most likely going to be seeing MLP on the main stage anyway, so we’ll just have to see how they are received.
As of yesterday:
I’ll be very interested to see how it goes.
It seems that even non-bronies who have played just for kicks came away saying that they were almost surprised how good it was, so I’m looking forward to seeing if the straight-up quality will be able to overcome any residual ‘pony’ stigma.
Should be fun!

@Iamslow
Nice selection, and I can’t help noticing that you have no less than three images in there by thelivingmachine02.
Quite possibly on of my favorite artiss for MLP humanizations:
His faces are just so perfectly expressive!
Sadly, I think he may have quietly moved on from MLP for the most part, but you can go here for a ton of his pony stuff: thelivingmachine02

Conversationalist

Commentator

That reminds me, what’s anyone doing during this time between the last episode and next week’s? Also, will Keep Calm and Flutter On create a commotion similar, if not bigger, than Magic Duel? Stay tuned to the next Little Pony Z!

Conversationalist

I don’t play alot of fighting games. The most recent one I’ve played is Soul Calibur IV. (yes, IV. Like I’ve said, I don’t play alot of fighting games.) Still, Fighting is Magic looks like a good game and I would like to play it.

Commentator

I come in complaining about how I can’t come back because of all the tl;dr and you guys respond by copiously spawning even more tl;dr? Am I really that annoying that you are ready to turn this thread into the pony version of Atlas Shrugged just to keep me away? I’m…flattered?

Commentator

I tried to draw Derpy in Flash today (just her head), and it didn’t come out right. I even googled up some reference images, and it still didn’t turn out right. It’s so much easier to draw (especially copy-draw) by hand than with Flash.
I noticed it looked similar to Excludes Affulence’s Flash ponies.

In the the class I was trying to draw Derpy in (Flash animation class), the guy sitting next to the guy sitting next to me saw the drawing (or the reference picture, I forget which) and recognized it. I asked if he watched MLP and he said yes. (I found out later that he’s only seen the first two episodes and wants to catch up.) I showed him some ponies I drew in my math binder.
That was my first encounter with a brony that I didn’t introduce to the show! I’ve seen bronies and pegasisters (wearing pony shirts) around school, I just never talked with one before.

I made a pony-related letter-day segment (my school uses the letters A-F to mark class alternation in some periods) for my school’s Morning Show, but I found out I that all Morning Show segments have to be made up of footage shot by students (with the exceptions of the far majority of the segment being original footage and greenscreened original footage over unoriginal footage), so it wasn’t accepted. Aw, ponyfeathers.
It was called “Discord D-Day”, meant to be aired on the D-day next week to conicide with the next episode. I might upload it to YouTube sometime.

Conversationalist

I come in complaining about how I can’t come back because of all the tl;dr and you guys respond by copiously spawning even more tl;dr? Am I really that annoying that you are ready to turn this thread into the pony version of Atlas Shrugged just to keep me away? I’m…flattered?

Ah well, I’ll return with a vengeance for the Discord episode =)

Gawd, why won’t you go away! It seems no matter the amount of tl;dr, I can’t keep your filth off the forums!

Conversationalist

Ponyologist & Plush Master

@Ffiths
Nah, we just remembered how you said that you wanted to use that gif you made and… voila!
Opportunity provided!
You’re welcome.

If anyone happens to recall, the Brony Documentary was scheduled for release today (1/12/13) but it looks like they are having to delay it slightly.
Apparently, some of the people who have their art featured have yet to sign their release waivers, so they are being given until the 19th now or the movie will be released without their work in it.
Anyway, as compensation, they released a four minute clip:

Conversationalist

Commentator

I briefly mentioned that interesting tidbit a long while ago during one of our synchtube sessions. I certainly hope it was done intentionally, because it would be a pretty awesome way to tie some things together.

Media Moderator

I posted this on that image in the galley as well: The only potential issue was that I don’t know if the Crystal empire was originally located in a icy region, as the part that re-materialized has green grass and trees, so it may have changed its location, or the area around it changed over the past 1000 years. Granted, when we see the “unicorn’s old land” it was under the effects of freak weather conditions controlled by Windigos, so I don’t think the snowiness can be used as evidence for or against it.

Commentator

Crystal empire is populated by crystal ponies, not unicorns. Your argument is invalid.

Unless, of course, King Sombra somehow…made the crystal ponies out of all those sorry fucks who decided not to follow the founders of Equestria out of that frozen hell hole. But then the obvious question is where did their horns go? Hmm, perhaps Sombra thought that they were a luxury that he did not feel like granting to his subjects. Afterall, magic can be such a nuisance when you’re putting down a rebellion.

Also, looking at how utterly dangerous ponies turned to the darkside can be as evidenced by Sombra, perhaps the Windigo aren’t such bad guys afterall. Perhaps they are spirits of justice who seek to stop the spread of evil ponies before they can corrupt even more of the world.The ponies thought them the symptom of the disease, but maybe they were the cure to it.

So to summarize my new headcannon: Windigo are the world’s last line of defense against the spread of evil, freezing the fuck out of that shit like a wart before it can spread. King Sombra made the crystal ponies out of the ponies who decided not to evacuate their old empire, removing their horns to keep them subjugated and turning them into crystal so that they could better survive the arctic temperature brought by the wrath of the Windigo. Someone explain where Luna and Celestia come in.

Conversationalist

Back from my self imposed Exile to Expand on that Idea as far as I can.

What if The main six are descended from their hearth’s Warming story counterparts? After all, they do seem to in some extent appear to be following in their footsteps; and in some other capacity, defying them.

So interestingly, considering some of the other foreshadowing… The Mane Six’s Actions may be more profound with that knowledge.

Discord being Starswirl the bearded for one. Which if Twilight turns out to be the antecedent of Clover the Clever, means a serendipitous encounter with what is both her idol, and her ancestor’s mentor is a heavily meaningful event.

Of course, There’s also the more odd meanings that could be drawn. But before that, let’s go with some more profound thoughts. Which brings us back to Rarity, Platinum, and Sombra.

Rarity of course, follows a road that is meant for bringing as much success to both her and those around her. While Sombra chose the route of Taking only for himself. If it turns out Rarity Descended from Platinum, and Platinum is the daughter of Sombra, then with a little sign that Platinum stood up against her father to protect the interests of her people, and that Rarity would have to do the same; is that not a profound mark of destiny?

Okay, now for weird comparisons.

Pinkie Pie: Chancelor Pudding-Head (I think)
If one takes the idea that Pinkie indeed does descend from her seriously; then that could mean that Pinkie is somehow meant to lead? But not conventionally it seems. More like she’s meant to serve as the kind of leader that lifts moral rather than gives orders. Which… In comparison to Anime Tropes would make her the equivalent of the Champion who becomes leader through Hope, Strength, Courage, and simple ability to get their friends to believe they can do the impossible. As opposed to her Strategist which would be… Applejack’s Ancestor, and thus Applejack?

Applejack: Secretary Smart Cookie
Admit it, you would never suspect Applejack of being some kind of master strategist who advises a figurehead leader would you? But is that such a strange idea? She organized one of the biggest family gatherings she’s ever had, she has a penchant for common sense, she knows what needs to be done when Twilight is fussing over her books and knowledge. So as long as Applejack keeps her priorities in order, and can get over her pride, she’s actually the wisest of the Mane 6; as opposed to Twilight’s Intelligence. (Oh god, you’re going to ship AJ and Twi now aren’t you?). Now think about all you’ve just read… Isn’t that Exactly what her Hearth’s warming Equivalent did? That’s kinda some more stuff that makes the idea seem appropriate if it were true.

So perhaps at some point… If Pinkie Pie Becomes some kind of leader, AJ will be there to help her with all the important decisions.

Rainbow Dash: Commander hurricane
What if Rainbow Dash was a Leader? That’s kinda what we see here. She’s focused in a sense, and she’s able to conduct in the heat of the moment decisions… Much like a military leader… She’s also athletic, and is trying to get into what seems to be Equestria’s Airforce. In all likely-hood the parallels are Incredibly pronounced. Draw what you will from that.

And that leaves…

Fluttershy… And “Private Pansy”?

What did her Ancestor do again?

From What I remember she was the first one to attempt to admit she had no hard feelings to the other two while in the cave… So yeah, there’s that, so key role there. But considering her potential “Ancestor” Didn’t seem to have a major role in Pegasi society, I can barely do anything but speculate. Which fro me gets me wondering if “Private Pansy” became some kind of Diplomat, working to restore Relations between the multiple sides of the merging Kingdom.

Which… if that were true, would be… Interesting…

Considering that Fluttershy’s upcoming role is attempting to repair the trust in Discord of all beings.

Now to slowly wonder back to my cold dark corner of the internet in Exile again.

Conversationalist

Aww man after seeing that preview for the rest of the season the whole “Twilight is becoming an Alicorn” rumor looks a bit more legit than ever before.

So that means this is it bros, fans have been saying for months since the vector of Alicorn Twilight and Alicorn Twilight toys were released that if Twilight really became an Alicorn they’d stop watching and quit. Others don’t mind so this could be it…the very split of the fanbase…or at least 100 people claiming they’re gonna quit. Honestly I’ll probably stay if they don’t screw it up (with M.A. Larson writing the season 3 finale my thoughts of him screwing up are quite low) but all I can say about this is this:

Conversationalist

I find the rumors of Twilight becoming an alicorn to be a cowa-fuckin’-piece-of-dog-shit, as the AVGN would put it. Hasbro knows their fanbase won’t like it, so they won’t do it. Besides, I think that toy came from China. Never trust anything China does.

Sonata Dusk

Deactivated

Here we go. It’s a promo, so the entire thing could be considered a SPOILER!

@Jimmy Lethal

Do you mean the little girls who dream of one day becoming princesses, or the adult men/women who would think it would be a ploy to sell toys? It certainly can’t be that people don’t like the topic.

That’s from FiMFiction’s groups page. Alicorn Twilight is the seventh most popular group overall, but the first most popular single-topic group. I think it’s more likely and more accepted than a lot of people believe. There would certainly be backlash.. but there was backlash over Shining Armor and Princess Cadance too.

Conversationalist

I find the rumors of Twilight becoming an alicorn to be a cowa-fuckin’-piece-of-dog-shit, as the AVGN would put it. Hasbro knows their fanbase won’t like it, so they won’t do it. Besides, I think that toy came from China. Never trust anything China does.

You mean like that time China Made a Gundam Look-a-like statue and denied it was a Gundam, before removing it and saying it was never there in the first place?

…China is crazy…

By the way, what is AVGN? Actually, I’ll guess, Angry Video Game Nerd?

Anyways, Considering my powers of Psudo-Precognition (Read: I’m Really good at guessing all possibilities) Twilight becoming an Alicorn is one of the few things that would surprise me if they did; but also one of the few things I can’t say for certain they won’t do.

…That is… Exciting.

I’m not really fussed if they Do or Don’t. But really, my doubt on both sides of the issue just makes me more excited for finding the answer.

Scrapbooker

General reaction to the promo:
>It is confirmed Twilight will become an alicorn
>Lel, you can clearly see the outline of twilight’s wings for a less than a second as they use the EoH

I personally think Twilight will not become an Alicorn, nor did I see Twilight transform into one in the preview, my eyes were assaulted by colour.
There are no real indications by Hasbro that Twilight will turn into one, and if she did it would only be temporary. Merchandise is also a terrible indicator as well because it is very common for unofficial merchandise of popular franchises to be produced.
Wait for the end of the season and see what happens, a part of me is kind of sick of seeing everyone being riled up by some rumor that Hasbro’s staff has denied and there have been no official indicators of Twilight as an Alicorn.

Ponyologist & Plush Master

It’s an entertaining theory to be sure.
Also recall that the crystal caves under Canterlot were hollowed out by ‘greedy unicorns’ who apparently really loved crystals.
Considering how the show-runners have said that they enjoy exploring the history of Equestria, I would not be too surprised if they did eventually connect all of these threads up in some way.

It wasn’t ever directly explained why Sombra wanted all those crystals.
Perhaps he needed them to maintain his obviously exaggerated (when compared to other unicorns) powers.
Canterlot was the site of his original kingdom and was mined hollow in his efforts to maintain his rule.
Once empty, he discovered/created the crystal empire and… oh crap, harvested the crystal ponies as one would mine for inorganic crystals.
Basically, he was a huge mass-murderer who use the bodies of his victims to further solidify his powers over the rest of the kingdom.
(How’s that for needlessly dark, eh?)
Anyway, Princess Platinum, his only daughter, was left in charge of pre-Canterlot while her father was away and the events of Hearth’s Warming Eve proceeded from there.
Celestia and Luna fried Sombra and then came south to deal with the rest of his kingdom.
Instead they found the beginnings of Equestria after the Windigos were routed.
There.
Have fun with that.

@Fifths
I actually really like that idea that the Windigos are like the planet’s immune system against evil.
Get too crazy, get frozen, idyllic world preserved.
(ib4 Human society found frozen in the glaciers of Equestria)

@Alicorn Twi
Just for reference, here is the primary physical evidence for it:
Left side is from a European (not Chinese) trade show that Hasbro put on a while back, and the right side pictures were grabbed from a shot of the office of the person working on the official Hasbro plush line.
I do agree that it’s a little early to be jumping to conclusions, but there is some relatively significant evidence that such a thing could happen.
Then again, Tara Strong (when she took over The Hub’s Twitter for a day) directly refuted it:
Now, that could technically just be Tara trying to keep it a secret, but it does seem like a pretty direct ‘No, that ain’t gonna happen.’
We shall have to wait and see.

Haven’t seen anyone mention it here, but we have finally gotten a synopsis for the as-of-yet unknown 12th episode:
<div class=spoiler title=“Episode 12 Synopsis”>

Doesn’t sound very ‘Rarity,’ so the idea of her getting an episode this season seems dead in the water at this point…

I think I may have mentioned it before (because I have), but M. A. Larson is awesome.
From the script of Magic Duel:
I mean, who writes stuff like that?!
Gold!
I so wish that they could release full scripts someday, just so we could see the kinds of craziness that the writers put in there!

Conversationalist

I didn’t say you directly see her turning into an alicorn here, I was just talking about how this TV spot (and most of the promotional items and the show itself) are building up for SOMETHING happening to Twilight, Going to the next level of her training, One pony will meet her true destiny all that good shit. You know what I’m saying?

Commentator

With all of these theories in play, it makes me think… How big do you guys think the mythos of the show are if thinking with a mindset of the show’s writters? Can said mythos get bigger and will the show go into deeper depths of Equestria and beyond? Will Twilight ever find her true place in life!?

Conversationalist

I’m not asking for a source, I’m just asking, how were we supposed to predict that?

I’m normally good with Instinctively knowing what kind of possibilities are likely to be remotely conceivable under logical circumstances…

….But where the heck does one get that from? Its not even remotely within the realm of logical progression of events!

Congratulations Hasbro! You found a Blind spot in my Awareness! I Do not expect you to find another! I will be more alert to your gambits next time!

/Rage

Now that I’ve gotten my out of my system, I have to say, this is the first time in a long time where I truly have no idea what is going on, where it’s going, or what the point is. I have no freaking clue, no even a possibility, on what is going to go on with that episode! For the first time in my life…

…I may actually be genuinely surprised…

I… Think I’m tearing up a little here… This is… A momentous day…

-not that I can guarantee it will be good; I just have… No idea… for the first time in my life…

…I’m…I’m… Speechless?

I can’t even actually talk about it! I mean, I literally have nothing to say about it, all I can talk about is my reaction!

If you rage at the possibility of it happening, just remember, all of us have seen at least a glimmer of the possibility either way: her becoming Alicorn or not: We can at least say we EXPECTED it to happen at least ONE of those ways. Whether your Naturally aware of possibility or not. In some way, the foreshadowing was there if it does happen. If it doesn’t, then our expectations of good business decisions were right.

It’s also entirely possible that the moment of Twi becoming Alicorn is merely shown in some Crystal Ball, and it’s not going to actually happen for another season. Something happens that sends them on a quest to prepare for that moment; and then off on a quest that requires using those powers.

…And now Excuse me while I Rage some more over Episode 12… My Mind just cannot penetrate it! It’s Driving me CRAZY!

Scrapbooker

@DeadParrot
May I remind you the official Hasbro toy line is is about as show accurate as a blind man trying to shoot at the moon.
Do not base your assumptions on the products Hasbro makes, they are only making these toys to sell them whether they are accurate or not because Hasbro is a toy company. Celestia is not pink in the show, Pinkie Pie does not have a sports car or a train, and Rainbow Dash does not have butterfly wings with a butterfly pet. I doubt that an experimental product line will prove anything.

Ponyologist & Plush Master

You opened the derpy…..you opened the Derpy! Fuck you better hope that doesn’t become a rare item in the future because you just done goof’d.

Actually, in a rare instance for a collectable, removing her from the box shouldn’t really matter.
As it turns out, there is no tape on the box nor is there anything that connects her to the packaging in any way whatsoever.
Assuming you don’t bend or tear the flaps when opening the box or something, you could take her out, play with her, and put her back without anyone being able to tell.
That said, I’m still keeping mine boxed, but there really isn’t much of an issue.

Side note: For whatever reason, up until CrazyC posted that picture, I couldn’t put my finger on why the Dash figure looked weird to me.
Then I realized: Dash in the show never has green, blue, or purple in her top mane, but the figure does.
Odd…
Still a very cool item though!

@Tim
Oh yes, absolutely.
I never meant to imply that the toy line is all that good at predicting the show, but it has scored some hits as well.
The crystal ponies and Cadance as an alicorn were both decisions made primarily for toy marketing.
Doesn’t mean alicorn Twi will happen, but it certainly doesn’t mean that it won’t happen either.
That’s why I said that we’ll just have to wait to see what happens.

Also, from the newest sticker book (bottom middle):
If this is supposed to be a big secret or something, Hasbro is really bad at hiding it…

Sonata Dusk

Deactivated

Actually, in a rare instance for a collectable, removing her from the box shouldn’t really matter.
As it turns out, there is no tape on the box nor is there anything that connects her to the packaging in any way whatsoever.
Assuming you don’t bend or tear the flaps when opening the box or something, you could take her out, play with her, and put her back without anyone being able to tell.
That said, I’m still keeping mine boxed, but there really isn’t much of an issue.

Side note: For whatever reason, up until CrazyC posted that picture, I couldn’t put my finger on why the Dash figure looked weird to me.
Then I realized: Dash in the show never has green, blue, or purple in her top mane, but the figure does.
Odd…
Still a very cool item though!

@Tim
Oh yes, absolutely.
I never meant to imply that the toy line is all that good at predicting the show, but it has scored some hits as well.
The crystal ponies and Cadance as an alicorn were both decisions made primarily for toy marketing.
Doesn’t mean alicorn Twi will happen, but it certainly doesn’t mean that it won’t happen either.
That’s why I said that we’ll just have to wait to see what happens.

Also, from the newest sticker book (bottom middle):
If this is supposed to be a big secret or something, Hasbro is really bad at hiding it…

I noticed the lack of tape too, but thought it may have just been my boxes. The only indicators that the packages would be opened would be the outer cardboard flaps (which are rather sturdy), and the inner plastic spacers (that someone worried about mint, still-in-package ponies wouldn’t see).

The hair can be explained. It’s easier to color toy molds like that without needing to do separate layers for hair. Dash in the show does gets her mane frazzled, and that can be a recoloring nightmare. My only disappointment is the lack of a cutie mark on both sides. I knew beforehand that the toy company didn’t print them like that, but I’m still a little saddened by it.

As far as Twilight becoming an alicorn.. hmm. We’ve all seen that the alicorn magic is different than regular unicorn magic, so I don’t think it would make her overpowered like some people think. Hell, she’d probably have to relearn everything she knew. That, combined with the learning to fly.. I could see some good episodes written about it. I don’t think she’d ascend in this season though. Show still feels too new.

I won’t even talk about how bad Hasbro is at hiding things. How many times this season have we had episode/script/plotline leaks? Most online bronies knew about Discord’s S3 appearance at the end of last summer. Yeah.. I don’t think they would even bother hiding something this big.

Iamslow

Deactivated

ExudesAffluence

Deactivated

Let’s look at this from a technical standpoint, shall we? I’m willing to bet (because I’m right, so don’t bother betting against me) that all those graphics and stickers are thrown together from the show’s Flash resources. This is a good idea; the resources are flexible, and the graphics and stickers turn out looking like the show. However, it would take a conscious decision on someone’s part for a wing asset to be recolored (“recolored” being the keyword; that’s kind of hard to do on accident) and attached to Twilight at some point. This leaves us with two options, I reckon:

A. There will be alicorn Twilight, and they’re doing a horrible job of hiding it.

B. Some graphic artist is very confused as to why DHX keeps forgetting to attach the wing asset to all the Twilight Sparkles they send him. “Vhy must zey do zis to me?” he cries. “Now I must go and make my own ving for zeh Tvilight Sparkle!”

Hedging my bets with option B, but there would have to be a serious communication breakdown that just so happens to involve one party utterly unfamiliar with the show, which is a lot of variables, so there is a solid chance that it’s option A.

Conversationalist

It’s an entertaining theory to be sure.
Also recall that the crystal caves under Canterlot were hollowed out by ‘greedy unicorns’ who apparently really loved crystals.
Considering how the show-runners have said that they enjoy exploring the history of Equestria, I would not be too surprised if they did eventually connect all of these threads up in some way.

It wasn’t ever directly explained why Sombra wanted all those crystals.
Perhaps he needed them to maintain his obviously exaggerated (when compared to other unicorns) powers.
Canterlot was the site of his original kingdom and was mined hollow in his efforts to maintain his rule.
Once empty, he discovered/created the crystal empire and… oh crap, harvested the crystal ponies as one would mine for inorganic crystals.
Basically, he was a huge mass-murderer who use the bodies of his victims to further solidify his powers over the rest of the kingdom.
(How’s that for needlessly dark, eh?)
Anyway, Princess Platinum, his only daughter, was left in charge of pre-Canterlot while her father was away and the events of Hearth’s Warming Eve proceeded from there.
Celestia and Luna fried Sombra and then came south to deal with the rest of his kingdom.
Instead they found the beginnings of Equestria after the Windigos were routed.
There.
Have fun with that.

@Fifths
I actually really like that idea that the Windigos are like the planet’s immune system against evil.
Get too crazy, get frozen, idyllic world preserved.
(ib4 Human society found frozen in the glaciers of Equestria)

@Alicorn Twi
Just for reference, here is the primary physical evidence for it:
Left side is from a European (not Chinese) trade show that Hasbro put on a while back, and the right side pictures were grabbed from a shot of the office of the person working on the official Hasbro plush line.
I do agree that it’s a little early to be jumping to conclusions, but there is some relatively significant evidence that such a thing could happen.
Then again, Tara Strong (when she took over The Hub’s Twitter for a day) directly refuted it:
Now, that could technically just be Tara trying to keep it a secret, but it does seem like a pretty direct ‘No, that ain’t gonna happen.’
We shall have to wait and see.

Haven’t seen anyone mention it here, but we have finally gotten a synopsis for the as-of-yet unknown 12th episode:
<div class=spoiler title=“Episode 12 Synopsis”>

Doesn’t sound very ‘Rarity,’ so the idea of her getting an episode this season seems dead in the water at this point…

I think I may have mentioned it before (because I have), but M. A. Larson is awesome.
From the script of Magic Duel:
I mean, who writes stuff like that?!
Gold!
I so wish that they could release full scripts someday, just so we could see the kinds of craziness that the writers put in there!

>Equestria Games

So wait, is this going to be the Olympics or the Hunger Games?
Because it would sound really friggin interesting if it was the latter.

Ponyologist & Plush Master

I don’t know who it’s going to be, but something tells me that the writers are planning something…
There’s something about her face that I just don’t trust…

Let this forever be known as the day Lauren Faust went crazy!
First this, which could never end well on the internet:
Followed by regret:
Followed by “F$*@ it, I’m going all in!”:
(Because this is so hilariously insane, I must post a link to prove that is, in fact, real: Twitter)

Verbose

Deactivated

Bloody hell. Keep Calm and Flutter On’s plot has now been spoiled for me (for the most part) because of the neglecting of spoiler buttons.

It’s going to happen, and since there’s nothing we can do about it, they’ll keep doing it. I’ve just sorta resigned myself to it. If you want to be in KYM PG, then things will get spoiled more often than not.

Database Moderator & Ponyologist & God Tier Swag

It’s going to happen, and since there’s nothing we can do about it, they’ll keep doing it. I’ve just sorta resigned myself to it. If you want to be in KYM PG, then things will get spoiled more often than not.